Surely nothing could be as terrifying as being awake during your surgery.
Megan Smith was undergoing a rare liver surgery when she awoke on the operating table.
She lay awake and pleaded with the nurse to make it stop.
“One of the nurses said to me, ‘we’ve only got two more pieces to cut off’, so they continued. It was so excruciating – it’s like being laid on a table and being tortured while you’re awake,” she told The Project.
“It was so excruciating – it’s like being laid on a table and being tortured while you’re awake.”
As she attempted to get off the table, the surgeon slipped and cut a nerve. She now takes daily pain medication, and probably will for the rest of her life.
Through tears she told Channel Ten’s The Project: “I’d rather die or bleed out than have that pain again.”
Quicky News Headlines: Thursday April 25th 2024
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As a doctor, I would really like to reassure people that this is incredibly rare. 1 in a 1000 is actually a very low number, and most people who suffer anaesthetic 'awareness' during a surgery cannot actually recall the experience after - therefore, anaesthetic awareness with recall (which is what the two patients in the above report describe) is even rarer still. I have personally never seen this occur despite participating in countless surgeries and anaesthetics, nor have I ever had a patient tell me they've had such an experience.
I also have to say, that while I'm not in any way criticising Megan Smith, her story frankly doesn't make any sense. There is no anaesthetist, surgeon, or scrub nurse who would actually keep persisting with a surgery when a) they knew their patient to be awake and in pain and/or b) their patient was moving around. Besides, anaesthetic awareness typically describes a state where the patient's sedation has worn off but the muscle relaxant agents are still working, so it's not possible she could have actually been awake, speaking AND moving. Without laying blame, I must question either the authenticity of that story and/or the accuracy of how it has been reported.
'There is no anaesthetist, surgeon, or scrub nurse who would actually keep persisting with a surgery when a) they knew their patient to be awake and in pain and/or b) their patient was moving around.'
I agree with everything else you've said in your comment, but I've seen lots of caesareans where the anesthesthesia has not been complete and the woman has complained of pain and the surgery has continued. Granted, this is from a spinal or epidural and not a GA, but I don't have enough fingers to count the number of times I've witnessed this first hand.
@zepgirl:disqus, as you said, I was specifically referring to general anaesthesia here. Obviously when local/regional/epidural anaesthesia is used the patient is (usually) supposed to be awake. With these types of anaesthesia it's common for the patient to still have some sensation of what is occurring (eg. able to feel the sense of pressure), but they don't actually feel discrete pain - however, it's not unusual for patients to complain they can still feel 'pain' when in fact they mean they can still feel other, non-nociceptive sensations.
But obstetrics is a lot different to general surgery - they need to use the minimal anaesthesia necessary in a caesarean, whereas the anaesthetic for a liver resection would be a lot deeper. If the patient is feeling pain, the muscles will tense and it makes the surgery very difficult - the surgeon will know and will be asking the anaesthetist for more relaxation well before the patient is able to talk (and presumably pull out their ETT in order to do so - notice she didn't mention that in her story) or get up off the table.
Yep, all very true.
This happened to me. I was aware during a gynaecological procedure but couldn't move. Luckily it was a fairly minor procedure so it wasn't excruciating. The anaesthetist suddenly realised something was amiss and I went back under. Afterwards I told a nurse how awful it was and she scathingly told me I'd been dreaming. When I told her what the nurses had been discussing (a holiday in Hawaii one of them had been on) she went white and shut up. I was terrified after that the next couple of operations I had and made sure I told the anaesthetist about it and another time when I woke up seconds after they finished (and gave them all a fright when I spoke to them!) - once they're aware I have a history of it the anaesthetists take it very seriously. NOT an experience I'd ever like to repeat. I am also entirely resistant to dental anaesthetic and so have to be sedated at the dentist. Sigh!
I have also woken up when I was under general anaesthetic (3 times) and am very resistant to dental anaesthetic. However while I was well and truly awake and able to talk to the surgeon and surgical staff I felt no pain. The first time it happened I thought the surgeon was going to pass out and despite the anaesthetist giving me more anaesthetic twice I remained awake and they had no option but to stitch me back up while I chatted to them. For my second operation and third operation I had a senior anaesthetist but the same thing happened again. The only possible explanation anyone has been able to give me is that as a diabetic my body is metabolising the anaesthetic in an unpredictable way. While it is a deeply off putting experience I am incredibly grateful that I do not lose the pain numbing effects of the anaesthetic. To have the experience you and the people in the article had where you are aware but unable to move would be a whole other level of terrifying.